Mistletoe
by thearchetypes
Summary: Jack and Eric meet under the mistletoe... Eric/Jack. E/J. Slash. One-shot.


**So, I'm pretty ish about the ending. It's kind of really awful. But whatever.**

* * *

><p>"You know what they say, Jacky. If you meet under the mistletoe, you have to kiss."<p>

Before Eric could see Jack's horrified expression and hear his firm and shocked refusal, Eric pressed his lips against him gently, leaning back with a playful smile.

"Eric! What the hell is wrong with you? That's not okay. That's wrong!" Jack scolded, hissing in a whisper as to not draw attention, his face filled with disgust. He shook his head abhorrently and walked away, leaving Eric to stare at him with the saddest pair of auburn eyes.

In his mind, Eric fully knew why Jack reacted like that. It was mostly his fault. He had tried to be bold, attempting to spill his feelings about Jack in a fit of spontaneity, but that obviously didn't work out. Eric was always the one to come onto him, never the other way around. But he tried anyway, only to be heartbroken every time.

It wasn't like Eric liked guys. The ladies always loved him and he loved them back. Jack was the only exception.

Dejectedly shuffling up the stairs, he made his way into his old room, burying himself under a pile of blankets to forget how much he was hurting.

Downstairs, Jack was fuming. How could Eric kiss him like that? They were both into girls! He only wanted to kiss girls. He had no problem with homosexuals, but he definitely wasn't one himself. Or, at least, that was what he kept telling himself for the past twenty minutes.

He brushed his thoughts aside as he sat down on one of the chairs in the Matthews' kitchen.

"Hey Jack, where have you been? Where's Eric?" Cory asked, not taking his attention off of his string of popcorn. Amy and Alan were currently preparing for the next day's Christmas dinner, Topanga was watching Cory assemble strings of popcorn, and Angela and Shawn were out getting icing for the cookies.

"I'm not sure. I think he was going to find ornaments," Jack said steadily, not daring to look Cory in the eye. He hadn't bothered to turn around on his way to the kitchen to see how Eric reacted. Instantly, Jack felt bad. He now realized that Eric probably had feelings for him and that was his way of trying to tell him. And maybe, Jack felt the same way. He thought back to the kiss, and how Eric's lips had tasted. Cool and sharp with a hint of candy cane. He remembered his scent, boyish, but sweet. He recalled how much he liked it.

Suddenly, he had felt more miserable than ever before.

Getting up from the table, he walked outside to the Matthews' backyard, where Mr. Feeny was gardening next door.

"Mr. Feeny?" he asked dubiously, his hands gripping the wooden fence that seperated the two houses.

"Yes, Jack?" Mr. Feeny rose up from pulling out his decaying flowers to face Jack, brushing the dirt off his gloves.

"I need some advice," he sighed heavily as Mr. Feeny nodded studiously. "I think I've hurt someone badly and I don't know how to fix it. The thing is, I wouldn't mind so much if that person didn't confess their feelings for me before I became a big fat jerk." Jack hung his head regrettably as Mr. Feeny offered a wistful smile.

"Take this to no offense, Mr. Hunter, but I think you mean to say you would't mind so much if you didn't have mutual feelings for that person as well. I don't think you would be this troubled and concerned unless you cared for this person in more than one way," he mused.

"That's the thing though. I don't know. I really don't." A contemplative expresion of remorse took over Jack's face quietly as he looked Mr. Feeny, who gave him a look as if he had confidence in what Jack had to do.

"I suggest you tell this person, whoever it may be," Mr. Feeny looked at him with a raised eyebrow and knowing smile, "that you are sorry. And hope that they will forgive you."

Jack pondered on this advice for a moment before breaking into a small smile and deciding what he would do. "Thank you. Really, I couldn't have figured this out without you." The older man nodded before he returned tending his garden and Jack walked back into the house.

After all the preparation for the next night, when the sky darkened to a charcol black and the stars began to twinkle, everyone went up to their guest beds and went to sleep. All except Jack. It was approaching midnight and he had waited the entire evening until Eric awoke from his slumber to talk to him and apologize, but he never came downstairs. Jack was too afraid to go upstairs and confront him so he had hopes Eric would come to him. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Sighing, Jack thought to himself. If he said sorry to Eric, would he forgive him? Would he even let him talk? After the vicious words he had uttered to his fragile best friend, he figured Eric would slam the door after even just seeing his face. He didn't expect him to condone his bitter actions, but the least he could do was attempt it. He didn't want to lose him as a best friend, and he needed to admit his feelings for Eric.

Unhooking the mistletoe from the door, Jack quietly crept upstairs to Eric's former room. He knew Cory and Topanga were in a seperate room since they didn't want to wake Eric from his deep sleep, so he was all alone.

Opening the door as cautiously as he could, Jack strived to be silent, but the creaking prevented him from doing so. Luckily, Eric only shifted in his bed slightly, and didn't wake up.

"Eric. Eric." Jack tugged on Eric's sheets, shaking his shoulder forcibly.

"Jack…?" Eric groaned drowsily as his eyes started to blink open.

"You know what they say," Jack began, gesturing to the mistletoe in his hand. "If you meet under the mistletoe, you have to kiss," he finished with a small wink.

"What-?"

Before Eric could figure out what was happening, he felt Jack's lips upon his and suddenly, he didn't care what was going on anymore.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," Eric laughed as they pulled away from a long kiss that caused Jack's mouth to go numb.

"Merry Christmas, babe."


End file.
